Page 145 - Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock

Graham Hancock – FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

Chapter 19

Adventures in the Underworld, Journeys to the Stars

The ‘hypothetical third party’ theory explains the similarities and
fundamental differences between Ancient Egypt and Ancient
Mesopotamia by proposing that both received a common legacy of
civilization from the same remote ancestor. No serious suggestions have
been made as to where that ancestral civilization might have been
located, its nature, or when it flourished. Like a black hole in space, it
cannot be seen. Yet its presence can be deduced from its effects on
things that can be seen—in this case the civilizations of Sumer and Egypt.
Is it possible that the same mysterious ancestor, the same invisible
source of influence, could also have left its mark in Mexico? If so, we
would expect to find certain cultural similarities between Mexico’s
ancient civilizations and those of Sumer and Egypt. We would also expect
to be confronted by immense differences resulting from the long period
of divergent evolution which separated all these areas in historical times.
We would, however, expect the differences to be less between Sumer and
Egypt, which were in regular contact with each other during the historical
period, than between the two Middle Eastern cultures and the cultures of
far-off Central America, which enjoyed at most only haphazard, slight and
intermittent contacts prior to the ‘discovery’ of the New World by
Columbus in AD 1492.

Eaters of the dead, earth monsters,
star kings, dwarves and other relatives

For some curious reason that has not been explained, the Ancient
Egyptians had a special liking and reverence for dwarves. So, too, did the
1
civilized peoples of ancient Central America, right back to Olmec times.
2
In both cases it was believed that dwarves were directly connected to the
gods. And in both cases dwarves were favoured as dancers and were
3
shown as such in works of art.
4
In Egypt’s early dynastic period, more than 4500 years ago, an ‘Ennead’
of nine omnipotent deities was particularly adored by the priesthood at
Heliopolis. Likewise, in Central America, both the Aztecs and the Mayas
5

1 See, for example, The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egypt, pp. 69-70; also Jean-Pierre
Hallet, Pygmy Kitabu, BCA, London, 1974, pp. 84-106.
2 The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya, p. 82.
Ibid., The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egypt, pp. 69-70, and Pygmy Kitabu, pp. 84-106.
3
4 Ibid.
5 The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egypt, p. 85.

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